The Endeavour Mitten, new from OROS, provides a complete weather seal for days when cold digits are not an option.

Like a slim solar cocoon for your hands, it absolutely shuts down the cold. The mitten and other items in the OROS winter collection utilize space-age Solarcore—groundbreaking apparel insulation that incorporates Aerogel, the same material NASA uses to insulate space shuttles in the -455F vacuum of space. Now it can insulate you right here on Earth! 

Aerogel is the least thermal conductive solid known to humankind. Unlike down and synthetic insulation materials, Solarcore does not rely on loft to retain heat. Almost to the contrary, even under compression, it still retains nearly the same insulation capabilities.

As a result, the Endeavour Mitten—with 2mm of Solarcore—is anything but bulky. It’s also ultra-light, breathable, wind-resistant and features 4-way stretch. We haven’t had a chance to test them in really cold weather yet but our initial reaction is that the Endeavour is at least as warm as a goosedown ski mitt, and far less bulky. And the internal separate fingers mean more dexterity than your average mitt.

OROS founders Michael and Rithvik met as a pair of science geeks in college. While on a climbing trip in the Alps, Michael had trouble staying warm despite being puffed up with layers of insulation. There had to be a better way to enjoy the adventure. OROS started with an Astronaut Scholarship and an idea. Why not leverage the Aerogel technology used by NASA to protect against extreme environments here on Earth? They took the scientific method and a lot of iterations to develop the world’s greatest Aerogel outerwear.

Complete OROS winter collection here.